Car-coupling.



J. L. G. BALLARD.

GAR COUPLING.

I APPLICATION FILED APR. 7, 1914. 1,125,252. Patented Jan.19,1915.

it? I 0' 2? 4 a 27 I G. FaZZa/YZ Giro-mew I a citizen of the United States, residing at plan unirnn eras JAMES L. e. BALLARD, or wannvILLn, NORTH CAROLINA.

CAR-COUPLING.

Application filed April 7, i914. Seria1No.830,224.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JAMES L. G. BALLARD,

lVadeville, in the county of Montgomery, State of North Carolina, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Car- Couplers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in car couplings and has for one of its objects to provide a coupling of this character wherein novel, and efficient means are employed which, when the cars are moved to coupling position, will automatically operate to couple the cars.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of an automatic coupling that is simple in construction, positive in operation and one in which the cost of production may be reduced to a minimum.

with the above and other objects of similar nature in view, the invention consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts set forth in and falling within the scope of the appended claims. 7

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a fragmentary view of adjacent ends of two cars, with the invention applied thereto and shown in coupled position; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the coupling with the parts shown in uncoupled position; Fig. 3 is an end view; and Fig. is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the latch member in latching engagement with the draw head.

Referring now tothe drawing, the coupling comprises a draw head 10 which is arranged upon a car in the usual manner and provided with the recess 11 and the vertically alined openings 12 through which a coupling pin is adapted to pass. Formed on the upper face of the draw head 10, is a lug or projection 13 having apertured ears 14: between which a lever 15 is adapted to be received, a pin 16 being passed through the ears and forming a pivotal mounting for the lever.

Pivotally connected at the forward end of the lever 15 is a coupling pin 17, a latch member 18 being likewise pivotally connected at the rear end of the lever and adapted to pass through the slot 19 formed in the draw head 10 and project within the recess 11 thereof. For retaining the latch member 18within the recess 11, there is formed on one face of the latch a notch 20, a sprin'gz21 being arranged on the opposite face thereof and bearing against the rear wall of the slot 19 to urge the latch and bring the notched.

portion 20 into latching engagement "with the front wall of the slot, as is clearly illustrated in Fig. 4.

It will be observed that when the latch 18' is in the position above described, the forward end of the lever 15 is swung upward on its pivot, thus raising the coupling pin 17 in the openings 12 to permit of the unobstructed passage of the shackle 22 into or out of the recess 11.

In operation, the shackle 22 passes within the recess 11 and engages and swings the latch 18 rearwardly in the slot 19, thereby 1 throwing the notch 20 out of latching engagement with the front wall of the slot and releasing the latch. When the latch is released, the spring 23 which is disposed be tween the upper face of the draw head 10 and the rear end of the lever 15, swings said lever upwardly to withdraw the latch from the recess 11, the coupling pinsv 17 passing through the opening 24 in the shackle 22 to effect the coupling of the car. It will also be noted that the shackle 22 is provided with a collar 25 which engages theend of the engage and swing the rear end of the lever 15 downward on its pivot, to withdraw the coupling pins 17 from the shackle 22 and reset thelatch.

From the foregoing it will be observed.

that there is provided a coupling of the character described, that is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and one which is automatically operated to efiect the coupling of the car.

What is claimed is: In a car coupler, the combination with a drawhead provided with a recess and a. slot communicating therewith. ot' a lever pivot- .ally mounted on said drawhead. a latch pivotally carried at one end of the lever and passing through said slot, a shoulder formed insertible Within said recess to engage and 10 on said latch for locking engagement with a release said latch whereby to couple the cars. Wall of the recess W1th the free end of the In testimony whereof, I afl ix my signalatoh projecting Within the latter, a spring ture, in the presence of tWo Witnesses. (a carried by the latch on the opposite side 1" from said shoulder and engageable with a JAMES BALLARD' L Wall of the slot to force and retain the latch Witnesses:

in looking position, a coupling pin carried JOHN A. MGAULAY,

by the other end of said lever, and a shackle G. B. MAYNOR.

Copiesof this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

